In November, senior Ayla Abbasi was one of millions of undecided seniors applying for college. Like many others, she wrote countless supplements, meticulously tracked volunteer hours, and lost innumerable hours of sleep over the decision. 

For Abbasi, it was more than just the stress of choosing a college that kept her up. She was struggling to decide if she wanted to continue her diving career in college or leave it behind. Continuing likely meant committing to a smaller school, potentially out of state, while leaving diving behind would open her options to larger schools, both in and out of state. When she eventually committed to Colgate University, Abbasi said, a great amount of her stress was relieved.

“This semester has definitely been less stressful for me because I knew where I was going to school,” Abbasi said, “so I didn’t have to stress about college admissions.”

College and Career counselor Melinda Stephan agreed and said that athletic commitments later in the year can cause anxiety for students.

“A later commitment can certainly cause stress for students and families given the uncertainty. I often encourage and advise students to plan for not committing somewhere while they are waiting for opportunities to present themselves,” Stephan said. “We still want students to apply to other colleges by important deadlines to keep all of their options open.”

However, by November, senior Amanda Ailes was already committed to Huntington University for volleyball, and her commitment hasn’t wavered. She’s been in even more communication with the college and her future team since then, which has allowed her to see more of the community at Huntington.

“I went to Huntington for the Spirit of a Forester competition where we stayed in the dorms overnight, and I went to the first day of the admitted students weekend,” Ailes said. “I also went to officially sign and got to watch a basketball game in the gym before it.”

Stephan said that commitments for athletics happen throughout the year, and do not always stay the same, although Ailes and Abbasi have both stayed committed to their original schools since making their decisions.

“I see students commit for athletics throughout the year. It seems as if more of the DI commits happen earlier in the year or even before senior year, and the others often happen throughout senior year,” Stephan said. “Those considering athletics as part of their college experience may have more changes in their plans than those who don’t. Things like schools backing out of their commitment, a better offer elsewhere, injuries that end a sports career, or just rethinking continuing in their sport are common reasons someone might make a change in their college plans.”

Stephan also said that committing earlier does not necessarily streamline the process for students committing to college for athletics.

“I often see students who have committed to colleges for athletics think they don’t have to go through the same application processes, and then they are scrambling to get everything done when the coach is hounding them to get the application materials in,” Stephan said via email. “That’s certainly not all committed athletes, but it’s not an uncommon experience in my 25 years as a counselor.”

Ailes said the greatest challenge of her college admissions process after committing was finding a roommate, which she said was more difficult for her due to Huntington’s smaller size.

“It’s a very different experience due to it being smaller. Most of my friends going to bigger schools were able to find someone they already knew to room with, but for me, the roommate process almost felt like dating,” Ailes said. “It started with a talking stage on the app ZeeMee where a soccer commit had reached out to me, and developed into us meeting for coffee to get to know each other better in person.”

At Colgate, the roommates are randomly assigned, which Abbasi said makes it easy because she doesn’t have to worry about finding someone.

“Unlike a lot of schools, at Colgate, athletes do not room with people on the team, all roommates are random which I think is good because it helps us get to know people outside the swim and dive team,” Abbasi said.

The stress of committing to college is different for each student, whether they commit for athletics or not, and Stephan said that students’ feelings on it can always change over time.

“I would guess that some students do and some don’t regret their decisions (to commit for athletics). Every sport is different, and some allow for committing earlier in the high school career. I can absolutely see a scenario where what a student thought they wanted when they initially committed is not what they want by the time they are a senior.”